Doctors For National Coverage Approach
Chances are you've heard media personalities and ordinary people making the case for a national insurance plan. Not long ago, during the democratic primaries, Senators Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton were arguing back and forth over whose platform would benefit the country more. Well, it turns out that now a majority of American doctors now support a nationalized system, which has changed in the last decade according to a recent study.
Generally speaking, these types of policies either reduce or eliminate the role of private insurers and, instead, utilize a single state-run social insurance fund which guarantees coverage for everyone.
Last Year's Physician Study
It was revealed this past year that, contrary to popular belief, 59% of physicians approve of legislation to enact nationally administered coverage, while 32% oppose it and the remaining nine percent are neutral on the subject. An analogous study conducted in 2002 found that 49% supported national insurance, while forty opposed it. The greater part of the medicine world feels that the current profit-fueled and fragmented system is getting in the way of proper medical care. The increase in support spread across all of the medical specialties-- especially psychiatrists, 83% of which offered their approval; pediatric sub-specialists were next in line at 71% approval, 69% of emergency medical physicians, and 65% of general pediatricians; general surgeons doubled their approval from the 2002 study, now with roughly 55% supporting the proposed plan. About fifty million people in the U.S. are currently under-insured, and another forty-seven million have no coverage. To make matters worse, health-care costs are increasing by seven percent each year-- twice the rate of inflation. Because of these issues plaguing the United States system, countless members of the medical world are growing concerned and offering their support. The largest medical specialty group in the country at 124,000 members, the American College of Physicians, endorsed a single-payer approach in 2007.
Additional Resources:
Next Step
Most Recent Articles
